MORRIS HEIGHTS, the Bronx (PIX11) – New York City has suspended an engineer’s inspection authority due to a “catastrophic” mistake made earlier this year in connection with the building that partially collapsed in the Bronx this week, city officials said Friday.
New York City Department of Buildings Commissioner James Oddo said the city has suspended a state-licensed engineer’s authority to inspect exterior walls of buildings in order to assess their condition after the engineer “misdiagnosed a load-bearing column” in the building as decorative in plans filed with the buildings department in June.
“...when those who are entrusted to keep us safe cut corners and make catastrophic mistakes, we’re going to take swift action and hold them accountable,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Our initial investigation into this collapse has made clear that the engineer involved has no business assessing the exterior walls of buildings in New York City, and we’re taking action to suspend his ability to do so.”
City officials said the investigation is ongoing into the partial collapse of the apartment building at 1915 Billingsley Terrace in Morris Heights.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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